Conclusion

Congratulations! You’ve finished the course on Worldbuilding (in Creative Writing). It’s much shorter than other writing courses, but still a lot of information to take in. To hone this skill, you simply have to write many stories with many interesting worlds.

The key practical takeaways are …

• My 4-step approach. (Core twist, basic needs, consequences, spicy details.)
• How to communicate your information. (Tiny bits spread over time, abstract vs concrete, show it. Prevent infodumps.)

The key theoretical takeaway would be that worldbuilding is in service of plot and character. A world is only seen through the eyes of the characters. It is only interesting if it relates to that character’s personality and goals, and that’s the part you should actually include in your book. The tip of the iceberg.

And the general takeaway, as always, is KISS: “keep it simple stupid”. Don’t overcomplicate it. Pick a handful of core ideas (for your world or magic system), stop there. Everything else is a direct consequence of those things. Think for a time, and you will find that even the simplest of setups can lead to many details and storylines. Pick deep over shallow. Do one thing about your world really well, instead of doing twenty different things poorly.

As mentioned several times, the Storytelling course provides a full practical overview (for beginners) that handles all aspects of story. If you haven’t read that, do so now. It links, whenever applicable, to the other more specific courses.

If you haven’t read about the other elements of the Triangle of Storytelling (Character and Plot, do so now!

And finally, it never hurts to read about more specific skills such as Dialogue or Prose. Or even Publishing, if you’ve finished your story.

Most of all, keep creating worlds, and keep telling stories. That’s how you get better. Don’t try to memorize all these rules or stick to them like they’re the law. They’re tools to help you have more fun crafting better stories.

Keep learning,

Pandaqi